My 5 rabbits with Pasteurella

All 5 of my rabbits have snuffles, when they first went to the vet about it they were put on a 2 week course of baytril. They didn't get any better so it was extended to 4 weeks, still nothing so they went on to septrin which didn't help and then the vet tried duphapen injections which also didn't help. After this Rocky had a swab test done which showed it was pasteurella multocida and that baytril, septrin and duphapen were all effective. The vet put them back onto oral baytril along with bisolvon to help with the mucous. This course went on for 4 or 5 months with no improvement. With 5 rabbits I went through a whole bottle of baytril in around 2 weeks so ended up going through around 15 bottles!

My vet then gave me F10 antiseptic solution to put in a nebuliser for 15 mins each rabbit per day while they were still on oral baytril + bisolvon. After 3.5 weeks of this and no improvement we stopped oral baytril and started using 5% injectable baytril mixed with saline solution in the nebuliser on opposite days to using parvolex mixed with special vet water in the nebuliser (baytril one day, parvolex the next etc). It's now almost 2 weeks of doing that and no improvement still! With the new solutions it takes 30-40 mins per rabbit on the nebuliser every day and with the time it takes to catch each one it ends up taking me around 4 hours per day to nebulise them all

I've been researching online and have just started giving them echinacea to boost their immune systems. I'm now looking into natural ways of helping them get on top of the symptoms (while still giving anything my vet suggests). Does anyone have any suggestions like what herbs would be helpful?

All 5 are still full of energy, have really good appetites and are otherwise very happy. They're kept very clean and are fed a good diet (egg cup of nuggets, lots of good hay which they love, various veg and fresh herbs). Their symptoms are sneezing and white mucous, sometimes the sneezing is quite violent looking - heads jerking back and forth very fast. I think what brought this whole thing on initially is when Daisy (french lop who is rabbit aggressive) broke out of her hutch one night and terrorised Rocky & Clover overnight who had the run of the shed (None were hurt just freaked out). The stress from that seemed to be the beginning of the whole thing.

Any tips on getting on top of their symptoms would be very much appreciated

You poor thing. Having 1 snuffle bunny was stressful I can't imagine 5, especially when like us nothing seems to help. Our culture came back inconclusive so it was a stressful guessing game. You could try an oxytetracycline, we tried alamycin via injections. The most effective drug we used was metronidazole.

We used enchinea and also liquid vit c to support his immune system. They have to eat the vit c straight away as it deteriorates in sunlight so we used to give it to him on a tiny bit if baby food.

I am sorry to hear your rabbits have Snuffles. Do you use wood shavings at all as this can irritate their noses or are they near any smoke? I can't be of much help I am afraid as you have tried most things I know of. We do have a Snuffles thread in the Health Section under Stickies if you want to read through that and hopefully someone may be able to recommend something else.

You poor thing, I had one snuffle bunny and that was intense enough! As I understand it, one of the problems with pasteurella is that it forms little abscesses especially around the respiratory tract, and this makes it really difficult for antibiotics to actually penetrate to the heart of the infection, plus those capsules can burst open and cause another episode even when things are actually 'ok'. The antibiotics that worked best for Santa were metronidazole, oxytetracycliines or injectable Baytril at a high dose. If things aren't improving with the various drugs which the tests said should be working, then is it possible that a higher dose could be considered? Baytril, for instance, in many older text books, says give twice a day at 2.5mg/kg whereas the current advice is that it works on peak concentration so should be given once daily, and my vet uses doses up to 20mg/kg and says she no longer bothers with lower dose rates.

Other than that, you seem to be doing everything I used to do with Santa, so I can't really suggest anything else. Best wishes, hope you manage to get on top of it xxx

Sorry I have no suggestions, just wanted to send lots of vibes for your bunnies, you must be tired out with all the treatments, Vibes for you too x

tonibun said:

I am sorry to hear your rabbits have Snuffles. Do you use wood shavings at all as this can irritate their noses or are they near any smoke? I can't be of much help I am afraid as you have tried most things I know of. We do have a Snuffles thread in the Health Section under Stickies if you want to read through that and hopefully someone may be able to recommend something else.

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They aren't near any smoke, they're all outdoor bunnies. As for woodshavings, I stopped using them after this whole thing started however i've started using them again but with a thick layer of bliss bedding on top and only in litter trays. I couldn't find anything else that was as absorbant and cheap but i'm only using a very small bottom layer of shavings in the trays, i'm confident they're not breathing it in.


I'll talk to my vet about metronidazole and oxytetracyclines, I need to phone him in the next couple of days about this last lot of stuff not working. Yesterday I ordered some oxbow immune support hay tab things from viovet which should arrive in the next couple of days. I also ordered a pack of 60 sachets of Protexin Bio-Lapis. It wouldn't be so bad if I just had 1 or 2 buns with this problem, the 60 sachets will only last less than 2 weeks for my 5. I'll also talk to him about possibly increasing the dose, I dread to think how quickly i'll be going through the drugs on high doses :lol:

On the plus side my human-aggressive nethie who started off being a nightmare to catch and nebulise is now a lot better at letting me pick him up. I've got so many scars from him biting my hands and tugging like there's no tomorrow!

Here's a cute photo of Clover the first time she used the nebuliser

I don't have any advice but just wanted to send you and the bunnies well wishes. I have one bunny who has snuffles and she really does struggle, I could never imagine having 5 It sounds like you are doing everything you can for them. I've found my snuffles bunny copes better indoors in the warm, than she did outside in the cold, but then she is older too and has problems with her back legs x

Becky86 said:

I don't have any advice but just wanted to send you and the bunnies well wishes. I have one bunny who has snuffles and she really does struggle, I could never imagine having 5 It sounds like you are doing everything you can for them. I've found my snuffles bunny copes better indoors in the warm, than she did outside in the cold, but then she is older too and has problems with her back legs x

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I wish I could bring them all indoors, even if just to monitor them more closely. My room is already full with my 2 liberta explorer cages that my 4 rats and 2 chinchillas live in. There's no chance of my parents letting me use any other rooms for the rabbits unless it was an emergency or after one has surgery. Their sheds/runs are kept warm and dry so i'm hoping they'll be ok during the winter

I've just been researching online about oxytetracyclines. I really like the sound of using Oxycare tablets, i've found a few threads about people using them for rabbits but nothing about doses. Hopefully my vet will know how much to give them, everywhere online seems to say oxycare is for dogs though :?

What a stress for you!

Have they been on metacam? I know it won't make it go away, but it helped my buns breathing and of course made them feel a bit better. The anti-inflammatory in it helped.

Other than that, all I've used is what you've already mentioned, sorry.

I also ordered a pack of 60 sachets of Protexin Bio-Lapis.

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Have you tried avipro? It would probably work out cheaper. You can get a 1kg pot for about £45.

So sorry to hear that you are having such a nightmare.

I read quite a few good experiences of Marbocyl antibiotic for pasteurella infection. Another one was Zithromax, but this can sometimes have side effects, so we decided only to try this as a last resort.

I did a lot of reading about pasteurella and other people's experiences when Wallace became ill with pasteurella in his lungs. You'll remember Wallace, he is the grey rex who suffered the appalling castration at the hands of Celia's ex-vet. He's now with me permanently as he will never be well enough to move on. Wallace's lung infection did progress briefly to weepy eyes and snuffly nose, but the upper respiratory problems soon cleared up.

Wallace was initially on Baytril, but he was changed over to Marbocyl. He was on the following treatment regime for his pasteurella infection.

Marbocyl once a day
Duphapen once a day
0.9ml Metacam twice a day
Bisolvon twice a day
Corvental twice a day (helps to open up the airways)
Tiacil eye drops

He was nebulised with F10 in saline four times a day (in a carrier as the mask is too stressful and any stress triggers mouth breathing).

Wallace is now probably as good as he will get. The pasteurella has left his lungs very badly damaged, any exertion or stress will result in mouth breathing. He's still on metacam and corvental twice a day and I nebulise him twice a day, more if he is having an off-day.

weedug said:

What a stress for you!

Have they been on metacam? I know it won't make it go away, but it helped my buns breathing and of course made them feel a bit better. The anti-inflammatory in it helped.

Other than that, all I've used is what you've already mentioned, sorry.

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My 2 worst ones have been on metacam for a while but it didn't seem to do anything for them, i'll look into putting them all back on it once we start a new treatment plan though. I only have one bunny, Clover, who struggles with her breathing sometimes so maybe I could just put her back on it. The rest don't struggle at all apart from while having sneezing fits though after the 1st week of nebulising my french lop Daisy started having a rattley chest which she didn't have prior to nebulising :?

Amy104 said:

Have you tried avipro? It would probably work out cheaper. You can get a 1kg pot for about £45.

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That sounds good, i'll use up this bio lapis then buy some of that for afterwards



I do remember Wallace! Sorry to hear he's not been very well It would be impossible for me to nebulise my 5 with F10 4 times a day, when I was using that it took 2 hours to get them all done so hopefully it doesn't come to that. It's already virtually impossible for me to set aside 4 hours every day to nebulise with baytril/ parvolex so i'm hoping that my vet doesn't want me to carry on with it for another 2 weeks!

I'm glad to hear there are other drugs that I haven't tried yet, i'll ask him about Marbocyl too